Practice Intonation: “Earth and Space”

Intonation is the rise and fall in the pitch or tone of your voice as you read aloud. Use this passage to practice reading with proper intonation. Print a copy of this passage from InsideNG.com to help you monitor your progress.

We breathe because our bodies need oxygen in the air. Oxygen is like food for our blood. We need it to survive.

In space, there is no oxygen. Because of this, astronauts do not breathe the same as they do on Earth. They have to breathe with the help of a protective spacesuit that supplies them with oxygen. A human being would not survive on a spacewalk for more than a minute or two without a spacesuit.

Compared to getting dressed on Earth, which takes just a few minutes, putting on a spacesuit takes 45 minutes. The astronauts must then spend lots of time breathing only pure oxygen before going outside the space station. This process is called prebreathing.